Mena

The Madagascan musician Kilema was immersed in the traditional music of Madagascar as a child, making his own instruments which he taught himself to play. Through this he soon mastered the marovany, kabosy, katsa and in 1993 moved to France where he became a member of the Justin Vali Trio, recording for Peter Gabriel's Real World label and appearing at Womad festivals across the world.

In 1997 when the trio broke up Kilema vowed to become an ambassador for traditional Madagascan music, immersing himself in the study of the marovany. This instrument, unique to Madagascar, is constructed entirely from salvaged materials. It is made of a hollow, rectangular wooden box with twelve homemade metal strings on each side.

Kilema now lives in Andalusia, Spain working with both Madagascan and Spanish musicians. In 2008 he and his band celebrated their tenth anniversary together with this new recording which digs deeper into his cultural roots, and reflects somewhat sadly on our new, globalised world and the role of the media in portraying nothing but the worst of our planet. Despite this perspective, Kilema expresses his music with an irrepressibly cheerful, positive spirit, the same way the Malagasy people deal with the difficulties of their daily lives in a country which has so little, and yet enjoys life so much. A master of the Marovany, Kabosy and Katsà Kilema carries the magical, rhythmic soul of Madagascar with him, wherever he goes.

Personnel:
Kilema - (lead vocal, marovany, kabosy, katsa), Patrick Randriamanjava - (calabaza, percussion, voloando, katsa, cajon), Maximin Randriamanjava - (bass guitar), Dada Ravalison - (acoustic guitar, kabosy), Nesta Randrianantoandro - (katsa, tsikadraha, melodica), Pedro Delgado Antunez - (voloando, bass guitar), Pachi Delgado - (clalbaza)

Number of Discs: 1

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